PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite

If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
- Yes. Windows 2000 automatically detected it.

In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers and
get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives tested
good?
- Yes, The drives are detected if I connect them independently as slave
drives.

Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and it's good?
- Yes. I bought from the recommended list at Promise's website.

Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system without creating
an array?
- Yes. If the drives are detected, The "Press <ESC> to continue booting..."
message is not displayed. It just hangs.

Have you tried creating different types of arrays?
- No, can only create a mirrored drive.

I did move the card to the sixth PCI slot (64 bit). Supposedly that would
avoid IRQ conflicts and actually run faster. That didn't seem to help.
My next step is to try installing Windows 2000 on one drive and then
ghosting the image to the second drive. Then installing the drives on the
RAID card.


"Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
news:4069ae5e$0$21254$afc38c87@...
 > If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
 > In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
 > and get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
 > tested good? Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and
 > it's good? Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system
 > without creating an array? Have you tried creating different types of
 > arrays?
 >
 > Ed Jamison
<font color=purple> > MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
 > 888-440-1414 X307
 > ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
 > AIM - MBXEdJamison
 >
 >
 > Dominos wrote:
  > > I'm having trouble getting my PIIIDME motherboard and my new Promise
  > > FastTrak SX4000 Lite card to work together. I'm hoping that someone has
  > > travelled this path before and can share some insights with me. My
  > > motherboard is using BIOS version 1.5.
  > >
  > > Here's what I've done so far:
  > > 1. Removed all other PCI cards.
  > > 2. I left my old Western Digital 10GB drive installed as Primary Master
  > > since it still has Windows 2000 installed.
  > > 3. Installed the new SX4000 Lite card into PCI slot 2.
  > > 4. Connected two new Western Digital 160GB drives. They are both setup
as
  > > Master and are not formatted.
  > > 5. Installed 256MB of RAM onto the card
  > > 6. Standard CMOS Setup:
  > > - Pri Master: Auto
  > > - Pri Slave: Not Installed
  > > - Sec Master: Auto
  > > - Sec Master: Not Installed
  > > 7. Advanced CMOS Setup:
  > > - 1st Boot Device: Floppy
  > > - 2nd Boot Device: SCSI
  > > - 3rd Boot Device: ATAPI CDROM
  > > - Try Other Boot Devices: Yes
  > > - S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks: Disabled
  > > 8. PCI / Plug and Play Setup:
  > > - PCI Latency Timer: 64
  > > - PCI IDE BusMaster: Disabled
  > > - Offboard PCI IDE Card: Auto
  > > - PCI Slot2 IRQ: 11
  > > 9. The SX4000 Lite card recognizes the hard drives and I created a
mirrored
  > > array.
  > > 10. But booting does not get past the FastTrak screen saying: "Press
  > > <Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility ..." It is supposed to also
  > > display: "Press <ESC> to continue booting...". It just hangs.
  > > 11. I can disable the hard drives by setting them both to slave. Then
the
  > > system boots to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 recognizes the new PCI card
as a
  > > Promise RAID card. Of course, there are no drives.
  > >
  > > SuperMicro Help provided a couple of tips, but neither made any
difference.
  > > I'll appreciate any help or insights provided in this newgroup.
  > >
  > ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller. IIRC,
Western Digital drives jumper a little differently than other drives.
Try that and see what you get...
Have you contacted Promise about this at all?


Ed Jamison
MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</a>
888-440-1414 X307
ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
AIM - MBXEdJamison

Dominos wrote:
 > If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
 > - Yes. Windows 2000 automatically detected it.
 >
 > In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers and
 > get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives tested
 > good?
 > - Yes, The drives are detected if I connect them independently as slave
 > drives.
 >
 > Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and it's good?
 > - Yes. I bought from the recommended list at Promise's website.
 >
 > Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system without creating
 > an array?
 > - Yes. If the drives are detected, The "Press <ESC> to continue booting..."
 > message is not displayed. It just hangs.
 >
 > Have you tried creating different types of arrays?
 > - No, can only create a mirrored drive.
 >
 > I did move the card to the sixth PCI slot (64 bit). Supposedly that would
 > avoid IRQ conflicts and actually run faster. That didn't seem to help.
 > My next step is to try installing Windows 2000 on one drive and then
 > ghosting the image to the second drive. Then installing the drives on the
 > RAID card.
 >
 >
 > "Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
 > news:4069ae5e$0$21254$afc38c87@...
 >
  >>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
  >>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
  >>and get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
  >>tested good? Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and
  >>it's good? Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system
  >>without creating an array? Have you tried creating different types of
  >>arrays?
  >>
  >>Ed Jamison
<font color=green>  >>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
  >>888-440-1414 X307
  >>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
  >>AIM - MBXEdJamison
  >>
  >>
  >>Dominos wrote:
  >>
   >>>I'm having trouble getting my PIIIDME motherboard and my new Promise
   >>>FastTrak SX4000 Lite card to work together. I'm hoping that someone has
   >>>travelled this path before and can share some insights with me. My
   >>>motherboard is using BIOS version 1.5.
   >>>
   >>>Here's what I've done so far:
   >>>1. Removed all other PCI cards.
   >>>2. I left my old Western Digital 10GB drive installed as Primary Master
   >>>since it still has Windows 2000 installed.
   >>>3. Installed the new SX4000 Lite card into PCI slot 2.
   >>>4. Connected two new Western Digital 160GB drives. They are both setup
 >
 > as
 >
   >>>Master and are not formatted.
   >>>5. Installed 256MB of RAM onto the card
   >>>6. Standard CMOS Setup:
   >>> - Pri Master: Auto
   >>> - Pri Slave: Not Installed
   >>> - Sec Master: Auto
   >>> - Sec Master: Not Installed
   >>>7. Advanced CMOS Setup:
   >>> - 1st Boot Device: Floppy
   >>> - 2nd Boot Device: SCSI
   >>> - 3rd Boot Device: ATAPI CDROM
   >>> - Try Other Boot Devices: Yes
   >>> - S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks: Disabled
   >>>8. PCI / Plug and Play Setup:
   >>> - PCI Latency Timer: 64
   >>> - PCI IDE BusMaster: Disabled
   >>> - Offboard PCI IDE Card: Auto
   >>> - PCI Slot2 IRQ: 11
   >>>9. The SX4000 Lite card recognizes the hard drives and I created a
 >
 > mirrored
 >
   >>>array.
   >>>10. But booting does not get past the FastTrak screen saying: "Press
   >>><Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility ..." It is supposed to also
   >>>display: "Press <ESC> to continue booting...". It just hangs.
   >>>11. I can disable the hard drives by setting them both to slave. Then
 >
 > the
 >
   >>>system boots to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 recognizes the new PCI card
 >
 > as a
 >
   >>>Promise RAID card. Of course, there are no drives.
   >>>
   >>>SuperMicro Help provided a couple of tips, but neither made any
 >
 > difference.
 >
   >>>I'll appreciate any help or insights provided in this newgroup.
   >>>
   >>>
 >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller.
- I set the jumper on both drives to Slave. The Promise Controller does not
find any drives. The "Press <ESC> to continue booting..." message is
displayed. The FastBuild Utility says "No Disk is found. Please check the
power and data cable connection." But it automatically creates an array if I
set the jumpers back to CS.

Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
- Yes. Their response ...
" Hi, Did you try the RAID in different PCI slots? 32bit and 64bit. This
board is discontinued so there is no more BIOS update. John"
- I tried it in different slots. I think I am getting closed in the 32bit
slots. But it still hangs in the same spot.

I did install Windows 2000 on one drive and then ghosting the image to the
second drive. Then installing the drives on the RAID card. No luck. But at
least I know the drives are good.

I did notice the following in the BIOS setup:
1. Don't specify the PCI slot for the RAID IDE card (set to Auto)
2. Specifying the IRQ for the PCI slot is ok (set to 11)
3. Disabling the PCI IDE BusMaster seems to allow the RAID card to start

Rather frustrating!


"Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
news:4070ad27$0$25544$afc38c87@...
 > Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
 > drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller. IIRC,
 > Western Digital drives jumper a little differently than other drives.
 > Try that and see what you get...
 > Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
 >
 >
 > Ed Jamison
<font color=purple> > MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
 > 888-440-1414 X307
 > ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
 > AIM - MBXEdJamison
 >
 > Dominos wrote:
  > > If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
  > > - Yes. Windows 2000 automatically detected it.
  > >
  > > In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
and
  > > get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives tested
  > > good?
  > > - Yes, The drives are detected if I connect them independently as slave
  > > drives.
  > >
  > > Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and it's good?
  > > - Yes. I bought from the recommended list at Promise's website.
  > >
  > > Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system without
creating
  > > an array?
  > > - Yes. If the drives are detected, The "Press <ESC> to continue
booting..."
  > > message is not displayed. It just hangs.
  > >
  > > Have you tried creating different types of arrays?
  > > - No, can only create a mirrored drive.
  > >
  > > I did move the card to the sixth PCI slot (64 bit). Supposedly that
would
  > > avoid IRQ conflicts and actually run faster. That didn't seem to help.
  > > My next step is to try installing Windows 2000 on one drive and then
  > > ghosting the image to the second drive. Then installing the drives on
the
  > > RAID card.
  > >
  > >
  > > "Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
  > > news:4069ae5e$0$21254$afc38c87@...
  > >
   > >>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
   > >>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
   > >>and get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
   > >>tested good? Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and
   > >>it's good? Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system
   > >>without creating an array? Have you tried creating different types of
   > >>arrays?
   > >>
   > >>Ed Jamison
<font color=brown>   > >>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
   > >>888-440-1414 X307
   > >>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
   > >>AIM - MBXEdJamison
   > >>
   > >>
   > >>Dominos wrote:
   > >>
   > >>>I'm having trouble getting my PIIIDME motherboard and my new Promise
   > >>>FastTrak SX4000 Lite card to work together. I'm hoping that someone has
   > >>>travelled this path before and can share some insights with me. My
   > >>>motherboard is using BIOS version 1.5.
   > >>>
   > >>>Here's what I've done so far:
   > >>>1. Removed all other PCI cards.
   > >>>2. I left my old Western Digital 10GB drive installed as Primary Master
   > >>>since it still has Windows 2000 installed.
   > >>>3. Installed the new SX4000 Lite card into PCI slot 2.
   > >>>4. Connected two new Western Digital 160GB drives. They are both setup
  > >
  > > as
  > >
   > >>>Master and are not formatted.
   > >>>5. Installed 256MB of RAM onto the card
   > >>>6. Standard CMOS Setup:
   > >>> - Pri Master: Auto
   > >>> - Pri Slave: Not Installed
   > >>> - Sec Master: Auto
   > >>> - Sec Master: Not Installed
   > >>>7. Advanced CMOS Setup:
   > >>> - 1st Boot Device: Floppy
   > >>> - 2nd Boot Device: SCSI
   > >>> - 3rd Boot Device: ATAPI CDROM
   > >>> - Try Other Boot Devices: Yes
   > >>> - S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks: Disabled
   > >>>8. PCI / Plug and Play Setup:
   > >>> - PCI Latency Timer: 64
   > >>> - PCI IDE BusMaster: Disabled
   > >>> - Offboard PCI IDE Card: Auto
   > >>> - PCI Slot2 IRQ: 11
   > >>>9. The SX4000 Lite card recognizes the hard drives and I created a
  > >
  > > mirrored
  > >
   > >>>array.
   > >>>10. But booting does not get past the FastTrak screen saying: "Press
   > >>><Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility ..." It is supposed to also
   > >>>display: "Press <ESC> to continue booting...". It just hangs.
   > >>>11. I can disable the hard drives by setting them both to slave. Then
  > >
  > > the
  > >
   > >>>system boots to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 recognizes the new PCI card
  > >
  > > as a
  > >
   > >>>Promise RAID card. Of course, there are no drives.
   > >>>
   > >>>SuperMicro Help provided a couple of tips, but neither made any
  > >
  > > difference.
  > >
   > >>>I'll appreciate any help or insights provided in this newgroup.
   > >>>
   > >>>
  > >
  > >
  > ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

Well, I'm running out of ideas. The thing you're doing with the install
and Ghost just wont work. You CAN install on a single drive, move to
the card, and create a mirror if everything is working, but Ghosting it
ahead of time won't help anything.
The information you supplied about BIOS information is interesting. Is
there an option on that board to reset BIOS settings to default? If so,
remove everything but video and Promise card, reset to defaults and try
again. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Have you tried the card in another
machine? I'm starting to suspect it's not an incompatibility at all,
it's something wrong with the card. Trying it in another machine would
help prove that. I've never been a big fan of the higer end Promise
cards. I prefer 3Ware once you get beyond the 2 and four channel RAID 0
and 1 cards. On that note, the SX4000 is a pretty fancy, high end card
to just be using it for mirroring. You'd get the same thing out of a
simple FastTrak TX2000 or something like that...

Ed Jamison
MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</a>
888-440-1414 X307
ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
AIM - MBXEdJamison

Dominos wrote:
 > Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
 > drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller.
 > - I set the jumper on both drives to Slave. The Promise Controller does not
 > find any drives. The "Press <ESC> to continue booting..." message is
 > displayed. The FastBuild Utility says "No Disk is found. Please check the
 > power and data cable connection." But it automatically creates an array if I
 > set the jumpers back to CS.
 >
 > Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
 > - Yes. Their response ...
 > " Hi, Did you try the RAID in different PCI slots? 32bit and 64bit. This
 > board is discontinued so there is no more BIOS update. John"
 > - I tried it in different slots. I think I am getting closed in the 32bit
 > slots. But it still hangs in the same spot.
 >
 > I did install Windows 2000 on one drive and then ghosting the image to the
 > second drive. Then installing the drives on the RAID card. No luck. But at
 > least I know the drives are good.
 >
 > I did notice the following in the BIOS setup:
 > 1. Don't specify the PCI slot for the RAID IDE card (set to Auto)
 > 2. Specifying the IRQ for the PCI slot is ok (set to 11)
 > 3. Disabling the PCI IDE BusMaster seems to allow the RAID card to start
 >
 > Rather frustrating!
 >
 >
 > "Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
 > news:4070ad27$0$25544$afc38c87@...
 >
  >>Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
  >>drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller. IIRC,
  >>Western Digital drives jumper a little differently than other drives.
  >>Try that and see what you get...
  >>Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
  >>
  >>
  >>Ed Jamison
<font color=green>  >>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
  >>888-440-1414 X307
  >>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
  >>AIM - MBXEdJamison
  >>
  >>Dominos wrote:
  >>
   >>>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
   >>>- Yes. Windows 2000 automatically detected it.
   >>>
   >>>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
 >
 > and
 >
   >>>get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives tested
   >>>good?
   >>>- Yes, The drives are detected if I connect them independently as slave
   >>>drives.
   >>>
   >>>Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and it's good?
   >>>- Yes. I bought from the recommended list at Promise's website.
   >>>
   >>>Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system without
 >
 > creating
 >
   >>>an array?
   >>>- Yes. If the drives are detected, The "Press <ESC> to continue
 >
 > booting..."
 >
   >>>message is not displayed. It just hangs.
   >>>
   >>>Have you tried creating different types of arrays?
   >>>- No, can only create a mirrored drive.
   >>>
   >>>I did move the card to the sixth PCI slot (64 bit). Supposedly that
 >
 > would
 >
   >>>avoid IRQ conflicts and actually run faster. That didn't seem to help.
   >>>My next step is to try installing Windows 2000 on one drive and then
   >>>ghosting the image to the second drive. Then installing the drives on
 >
 > the
 >
   >>>RAID card.
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>"Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
   >>>news:4069ae5e$0$21254$afc38c87@...
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
   >>>>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
   >>>>and get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
   >>>>tested good? Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and
   >>>>it's good? Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system
   >>>>without creating an array? Have you tried creating different types of
   >>>>arrays?
   >>>>
   >>>>Ed Jamison
<font color=brown>   >>>>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
   >>>>888-440-1414 X307
   >>>>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
   >>>>AIM - MBXEdJamison
   >>>>
   >>>>
   >>>>Dominos wrote:
   >>>>
   >>>>
   >>>>>I'm having trouble getting my PIIIDME motherboard and my new Promise
   >>>>>FastTrak SX4000 Lite card to work together. I'm hoping that someone has
   >>>>>travelled this path before and can share some insights with me. My
   >>>>>motherboard is using BIOS version 1.5.
   >>>>>
   >>>>>Here's what I've done so far:
   >>>>>1. Removed all other PCI cards.
   >>>>>2. I left my old Western Digital 10GB drive installed as Primary Master
   >>>>>since it still has Windows 2000 installed.
   >>>>>3. Installed the new SX4000 Lite card into PCI slot 2.
   >>>>>4. Connected two new Western Digital 160GB drives. They are both setup
   >>>
   >>>as
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>>Master and are not formatted.
   >>>>>5. Installed 256MB of RAM onto the card
   >>>>>6. Standard CMOS Setup:
   >>>>>- Pri Master: Auto
   >>>>>- Pri Slave: Not Installed
   >>>>>- Sec Master: Auto
   >>>>>- Sec Master: Not Installed
   >>>>>7. Advanced CMOS Setup:
   >>>>>- 1st Boot Device: Floppy
   >>>>>- 2nd Boot Device: SCSI
   >>>>>- 3rd Boot Device: ATAPI CDROM
   >>>>>- Try Other Boot Devices: Yes
   >>>>>- S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks: Disabled
   >>>>>8. PCI / Plug and Play Setup:
   >>>>>- PCI Latency Timer: 64
   >>>>>- PCI IDE BusMaster: Disabled
   >>>>>- Offboard PCI IDE Card: Auto
   >>>>>- PCI Slot2 IRQ: 11
   >>>>>9. The SX4000 Lite card recognizes the hard drives and I created a
   >>>
   >>>mirrored
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>>array.
   >>>>>10. But booting does not get past the FastTrak screen saying: "Press
   >>>>><Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility ..." It is supposed to also
   >>>>>display: "Press <ESC> to continue booting...". It just hangs.
   >>>>>11. I can disable the hard drives by setting them both to slave. Then
   >>>
   >>>the
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>>system boots to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 recognizes the new PCI card
   >>>
   >>>as a
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>>Promise RAID card. Of course, there are no drives.
   >>>>>
   >>>>>SuperMicro Help provided a couple of tips, but neither made any
   >>>
   >>>difference.
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>>>I'll appreciate any help or insights provided in this newgroup.
   >>>>>
   >>>>>
   >>>
   >>>
   >>>
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

Ed,
Thanks for your help and advice.
The Ghosting did not work.
I reset the CMOS to defaults and tried again.
It didn't seem to make any difference using a single drive or two drives
(JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1).
I may have to test the card on another PC (as you advised). Alternatively, I
may just have to contact Promise again for support. Or maybe try to return
the card.

This is turning into one of those experiences where hindsight is 20-20.


"Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
news:4074088d$0$5971$afc38c87@...
 > Well, I'm running out of ideas. The thing you're doing with the install
 > and Ghost just wont work. You CAN install on a single drive, move to
 > the card, and create a mirror if everything is working, but Ghosting it
 > ahead of time won't help anything.
 > The information you supplied about BIOS information is interesting. Is
 > there an option on that board to reset BIOS settings to default? If so,
 > remove everything but video and Promise card, reset to defaults and try
 > again. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Have you tried the card in another
 > machine? I'm starting to suspect it's not an incompatibility at all,
 > it's something wrong with the card. Trying it in another machine would
 > help prove that. I've never been a big fan of the higer end Promise
 > cards. I prefer 3Ware once you get beyond the 2 and four channel RAID 0
 > and 1 cards. On that note, the SX4000 is a pretty fancy, high end card
 > to just be using it for mirroring. You'd get the same thing out of a
 > simple FastTrak TX2000 or something like that...
 >
 > Ed Jamison
<font color=purple> > MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
 > 888-440-1414 X307
 > ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
 > AIM - MBXEdJamison
 >
 > Dominos wrote:
  > > Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
  > > drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller.
  > > - I set the jumper on both drives to Slave. The Promise Controller does
not
  > > find any drives. The "Press <ESC> to continue booting..." message is
  > > displayed. The FastBuild Utility says "No Disk is found. Please check
the
  > > power and data cable connection." But it automatically creates an array
if I
  > > set the jumpers back to CS.
  > >
  > > Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
  > > - Yes. Their response ...
  > > " Hi, Did you try the RAID in different PCI slots? 32bit and 64bit.
This
  > > board is discontinued so there is no more BIOS update. John"
  > > - I tried it in different slots. I think I am getting closed in the
32bit
  > > slots. But it still hangs in the same spot.
  > >
  > > I did install Windows 2000 on one drive and then ghosting the image to
the
  > > second drive. Then installing the drives on the RAID card. No luck. But
at
  > > least I know the drives are good.
  > >
  > > I did notice the following in the BIOS setup:
  > > 1. Don't specify the PCI slot for the RAID IDE card (set to Auto)
  > > 2. Specifying the IRQ for the PCI slot is ok (set to 11)
  > > 3. Disabling the PCI IDE BusMaster seems to allow the RAID card to start
  > >
  > > Rather frustrating!
  > >
  > >
  > > "Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
  > > news:4070ad27$0$25544$afc38c87@...
  > >
   > >>Can you create an array, and does it function properly if you set up the
   > >>drives as slave instead of master on the Promise controller. IIRC,
   > >>Western Digital drives jumper a little differently than other drives.
   > >>Try that and see what you get...
   > >>Have you contacted Promise about this at all?
   > >>
   > >>
   > >>Ed Jamison
<font color=brown>   > >>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
   > >>888-440-1414 X307
   > >>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
   > >>AIM - MBXEdJamison
   > >>
   > >>Dominos wrote:
   > >>
   > >>>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
   > >>>- Yes. Windows 2000 automatically detected it.
   > >>>
   > >>>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
  > >
  > > and
  > >
   > >>>get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
tested
   > >>>good?
   > >>>- Yes, The drives are detected if I connect them independently as slave
   > >>>drives.
   > >>>
   > >>>Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and it's good?
   > >>>- Yes. I bought from the recommended list at Promise's website.
   > >>>
   > >>>Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the system without
  > >
  > > creating
  > >
   > >>>an array?
   > >>>- Yes. If the drives are detected, The "Press <ESC> to continue
  > >
  > > booting..."
  > >
   > >>>message is not displayed. It just hangs.
   > >>>
   > >>>Have you tried creating different types of arrays?
   > >>>- No, can only create a mirrored drive.
   > >>>
   > >>>I did move the card to the sixth PCI slot (64 bit). Supposedly that
  > >
  > > would
  > >
   > >>>avoid IRQ conflicts and actually run faster. That didn't seem to help.
   > >>>My next step is to try installing Windows 2000 on one drive and then
   > >>>ghosting the image to the second drive. Then installing the drives on
  > >
  > > the
  > >
   > >>>RAID card.
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>"Ed Jamison - MBX" <ed-at-mbx-dot-com> wrote in message
   > >>>news:4069ae5e$0$21254$afc38c87@...
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>If you plug the card in with no drives attached, it shows up correct?
   > >>>>In addition, IIRC, you have to boot into Windows, install all drivers
   > >>>>and get the card setup BEFORE you add drives to it. Have both drives
   > >>>>tested good? Are you sure you're using the right type of memory, and
   > >>>>it's good? Have you tried hooking up the drives and booting the
system
   > >>>>without creating an array? Have you tried creating different types of
   > >>>>arrays?
   > >>>>
   > >>>>Ed Jamison
<font color=brown>   > >>>>MBX - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mbx.com/</font" target="_blank">http://www.mbx.com/</font</a>>
   > >>>>888-440-1414 X307
   > >>>>ed.jamison-at-mbx-dot-com
   > >>>>AIM - MBXEdJamison
   > >>>>
   > >>>>
   > >>>>Dominos wrote:
   > >>>>
   > >>>>
   > >>>>>I'm having trouble getting my PIIIDME motherboard and my new Promise
   > >>>>>FastTrak SX4000 Lite card to work together. I'm hoping that someone
has
   > >>>>>travelled this path before and can share some insights with me. My
   > >>>>>motherboard is using BIOS version 1.5.
   > >>>>>
   > >>>>>Here's what I've done so far:
   > >>>>>1. Removed all other PCI cards.
   > >>>>>2. I left my old Western Digital 10GB drive installed as Primary
Master
   > >>>>>since it still has Windows 2000 installed.
   > >>>>>3. Installed the new SX4000 Lite card into PCI slot 2.
   > >>>>>4. Connected two new Western Digital 160GB drives. They are both
setup
   > >>>
   > >>>as
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>>Master and are not formatted.
   > >>>>>5. Installed 256MB of RAM onto the card
   > >>>>>6. Standard CMOS Setup:
   > >>>>>- Pri Master: Auto
   > >>>>>- Pri Slave: Not Installed
   > >>>>>- Sec Master: Auto
   > >>>>>- Sec Master: Not Installed
   > >>>>>7. Advanced CMOS Setup:
   > >>>>>- 1st Boot Device: Floppy
   > >>>>>- 2nd Boot Device: SCSI
   > >>>>>- 3rd Boot Device: ATAPI CDROM
   > >>>>>- Try Other Boot Devices: Yes
   > >>>>>- S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks: Disabled
   > >>>>>8. PCI / Plug and Play Setup:
   > >>>>>- PCI Latency Timer: 64
   > >>>>>- PCI IDE BusMaster: Disabled
   > >>>>>- Offboard PCI IDE Card: Auto
   > >>>>>- PCI Slot2 IRQ: 11
   > >>>>>9. The SX4000 Lite card recognizes the hard drives and I created a
   > >>>
   > >>>mirrored
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>>array.
   > >>>>>10. But booting does not get past the FastTrak screen saying: "Press
   > >>>>><Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility ..." It is supposed to also
   > >>>>>display: "Press <ESC> to continue booting...". It just hangs.
   > >>>>>11. I can disable the hard drives by setting them both to slave. Then
   > >>>
   > >>>the
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>>system boots to Windows 2000. Windows 2000 recognizes the new PCI
card
   > >>>
   > >>>as a
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>>Promise RAID card. Of course, there are no drives.
   > >>>>>
   > >>>>>SuperMicro Help provided a couple of tips, but neither made any
   > >>>
   > >>>difference.
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>>>I'll appreciate any help or insights provided in this newgroup.
   > >>>>>
   > >>>>>
   > >>>
   > >>>
   > >>>
  > >
  > ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

I returned the IDE card. Just wasn't meant to be. Thanks for your help!
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite 

I returned the Promise IDE card. Too much work and no results. Thanks for
your help.
 >> Stay informed about: PIIIDME and Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite